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“I don’t know how you’re not bawling,” I whispered back, my voice cracking.
“I’ve lost a lot of people,” he admitted. “I’ve been king much longer than any of my friends. I saw wars they haven’t heard about, and survived battles they don’t know happened. Between that, my family, and the Aboa, I know how to make it through loss. It doesn’t get easier, but you do get used to it.”
I bit my lip, full of uncertainty. “Would you feel that way if you lost me, too?”
His eyes darkened, and he signed, “No. It’s a mercy to Bluhm that when you go, I’ll go with you.”
My throat swelled, and I nodded.
It was probably selfish, but I needed that confirmation. I needed to know that something would’ve changed for him if I died—that I actually mattered to him like he mattered to me.
“We’ll stop to speak with Storm first because checking his land will take him longer than the others. Quake and Flame will be second and third. Are you ready now, or do we need to go back to the castle for a bit? I understand if you need time.”
I wiped at the last of my tears.
“We can’t afford to wait any longer before going after him and Locha. I’m okay.”
He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around my back. My eyes closed, and the magic took us away.
Chapter15
I tried notto feel disoriented as I looked around the cafeteria in Harper and Sirus’s castle. Between my emotions on the beach, the travel method, and all the changes that had been made since the last time I was there, I felt completely and totally off.
That was fine, though.
I’d figure it out.
Zoran tugged me closer, and the air grew more humid for a moment.
I looked around at the other fae in the cafeteria, none of whom had batted an eye at our sudden appearance.
Zoran released his hold on my waist, slipping his fingers between mine as he strode out of the cafeteria. Despite his ultra-long legs, he didn’t attempt to leave me behind. Just walked at my pace, as if I wasn’t slow as a damn turtle next to him.
We passed massive windows that looked out on a gorgeous, thriving city that stretched as far as I could see in every direction. My lips parted as I took in all of the changes.
The place was incredible, now.
It was hard to believe that it had been rubble just a few months earlier, or that I had played the tiniest role in helping rebuild it.
We continued walking, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the city.
It was so different than the simple, sprawling sandstone homes that spread over miles of massive beaches back in the water fae’s land.
The wind fae were just… I don’t know. More independent from each other? More private?
Outside of their hatred for me, the water fae seemed like a connected unit. Almost like a family. Even in their hatred, they had all been aligned. They weren’t friendly to outsiders, but they were extremely tight-knit when it came to their own people.
“Why didn’t you think your people would hate me?” I asked Zoran as we walked.
He released my hand to sign, “You’re mine. You may not be a water fae, but that alone makes you one of us. And we take care of our own. Had I realized earlier that you were being mistreated, I would’ve ended it immediately. I expected them to take care of you, not to push you away.”
The words stunned me speechless, and I looked back out the window as we kept walking. His hand retook mine, and he laced our fingers again, squeezing lightly.
We approached a door a few minutes later. It was only a few feet from the one I knew would lead into Sirus and Harper’s room.
Zoran knocked lightly on the door, and it swung open immediately.
We stepped into a beautiful room, with thick white curtains draped over the window and cutting off all light entirely. There was a massive four-poster bed in the middle of the space, with a thick, billowy canopy made of more fluffy white fabric.
